In conventional lithographic printing, ink and an aqueous fountain solution are supplied to the surface of a printing master that contains ink accepting (oleophilic) and water-accepting (hydrophilic) areas. The inked image pattern is then transferred from the surface of the master to a blanket cylinder having a compressible surface. From the blanket cylinder the image is impressed onto paper. The master is typically a printing plate that carries an image on a dimensionally stable substrate such as an aluminum sheet. The imaged aluminum plate is secured to the plate cylinder of a printing press by a mechanical lock-up mechanism that defines positional registration between the plate and the surface of the cylinder. After the end of the press run, the mechanical lock-up system is released so that the printing plate carrying the printed image can be removed and discarded and another printing plate can be positioned and locked into place. A new print job can then be started.
Printing masters are generally obtained by the so-called computer-to-film method wherein each color selection is transferred to graphic arts film using an image-setter. After processing, the film can be used as a mask for the exposure of an imaging material called plate precursor and after plate processing, a printing plate is obtained which can be used as a master. These steps are usually performed in dedicated exposure and processing equipment and the printing plates are then transported to the printing press and attached to the printing cylinder by press operators using a lock-up mechanism built into the cylinder itself. Although the attachment of the printing cylinder is generally a manual operation, robotic means have been developed for positioning and securing the printing plates.
In recent years the so-called computer-to-plate method has gained a lot of interest. This method, also called direct-to-plate method, bypasses the creation of film because the digital data are transferred directly to a plate precursor by means of a so-called plate-setter. On-press imaging is a direct-to-plate method (also called direct-to-press), wherein the image is exposed on the plate while said plate is mounted on the plate cylinder of a printing press. The major advantage of the latter method compared to off-press plate making is the improved registration between printing stations of a multi-color printing press.
Two types of such on-press imaging methods are known. According to a first type, a printing plate precursor is mounted on a printing press, image-wise exposed, optionally developed, and then used as a printing master and finally removed from the press and disposed of, thus requiring a new plate material for each image. An example of this technology is the Heidelberg Model GTO-DI, manufactured by Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG (Germany) which is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,737. A drawback of this method is the need to use a new plate for each press run, thus increasing the cost of the printing process.
In a second type of on-press imaging systems, the same lithographic substrate is used in a plurality of press runs (hereinafter called printing cycles). In each printing cycle, a heat-sensitive or photosensitive layer is coated on the lithographic substrate to make a printing plate precursor and after image-wise exposure and optional development a printing master is obtained. After the press-run, the ink-accepting areas of the printing master are removed from the lithographic substrate in a cleaning step so that the substrate is recycled and can be used in a next cycle of coating, exposing and printing without the need to mount a new plate on the cylinder. Examples of such on-press coating and on-press imaging systems are described in e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,033; U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,287; EP-A 786 337 and EP-A 802 457. The latter patent application describes an apparatus comprising a printing member, means for applying a uniform coating, means for scan-wise exposing said uniform coating in accordance with an image pattern and means for developing said uniform coating to leave an image on said printing member, the image consisting of ink-accepting areas on an ink-repellent background or ink-repellent areas on an ink-accepting background. According to a preferred embodiment, the coating comprises hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles in a hydrophilic binder.
Cleaning liquids for lithographic printing plates have been described in EP-A-00200176, EP-A-00200177 and EP-A-00200178 all filed on Jan. 18, 2000 and DE-A-42 16 636.
The known cleaning liquids typically contain solvents which are harmful to hoses, pumps and sealings and/or require a very thorough rinsing with water because these liquids are not compatible with the coating step in the next printing cycle.
In the known on-press coating methods, the cleaning of the lithographic substrate often fails because no suitable compromise can be found between the chemical reactivity of the cleaning liquid versus the ink-accepting areas which have to be removed on the one hand and the required inertness of said cleaning liquid versus the fragile lithographic surface on the other hand. A typical lithographic surface is mechanically as well as chemically quite vulnerable. A lithographic surface consists generally of a micro-pore structure in order to obtain a good differentiation between the spreading properties of the ink and the fountain. Anodized aluminum plates comprise a lithographic surface containing one or more metal oxides on which absorption phenomena can take place. These metal oxides are very susceptible to chemical conversion into forms that are no longer lithographically active.
The above mentioned micro-porosity of a lithographic surface is also highly susceptible to mechanical damage. The presence of solid particles in cleaning liquids, which is often required for efficient mechanical cleaning of the lithographic surface, results inevitably in a disturbance of the micro-structure of said surface. Because ink and the coated imaging layer penetrate in the micro-pore structure, it is necessary to carry out a vigorous cleaning so as to avoid ghost images in the subsequent printing cycles, which are due to an incomplete removal of the previous image.
A suitable cleaning liquid is a micro-emulsion of an organic compound in water. The cleaning liquid consumed in each cleaning step needs to be collected and its disposal represents a problem for the user.